East Coast rail services to be taken into public control

Services had been run by the DfT for six years up to VTEC taking over in 2015.

Virgin Trains East Coast- a joint venture between Stagecoach and Virgin- had won the right to operate the franchise between London and Edinburgh for eight years in 2014.

The new service will be rebranded as the London and North Eastern Railway.

Your journeys on the East Coast Mainline will be unaffected during the transition to the new operator, tickets, timetables, and train services will all stay the same, even though a different operator will be in charge.

"I will appoint an interim chair shortly, and then begin the recruitment process for a long term appointment".

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling told the House of Commons this afternoon that no decision had yet been taken on the future of the Great Northern franchise, but that Great Northern services coming out of London King's Cross might be merged into LNER.

"This is not because the route is failing".

However, he also said: "The route has its challenges but it is not a failing railway".

He added there will be no sanctions against Virgin or Stagecoach for their failures. They will have lost almost £200 million meeting their contracted commitments.

"East Coast is now the top-rated franchised train service in Great Britain - with 92 per cent overall satisfaction with the last journey in the latest National Rail Passenger Survey".

General Secretary Mick Cash said: "This is the second time the Government have called upon the public sector to launch a rescue operation on the east coast main line, and instead of being a temporary arrangement Chris Grayling should listen to his staff and the public and make it permanent. The line is only successful with public ownership, when it was the best-performing operator on the network".

Rail services on the East Coast Main Line will be brought back under public control following the termination of the franchise agreement with Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC), Stagecoach Group has said.